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Passchendaele: Attacks
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The opening attack at Passchendaele was carried out be general Hubert Gough and the British Fifth Army general Herbert Plumer and the second army joining on the right with General Françoise Anthoine with his French First Army on the left. After a ten day preliminary bombardment with 3,000 guns firing at 4.25 million shells, the British offensive started at Ypres at 3.50am on the 31st of July.
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In 2003-04 the Army museum of Waiouru New Zealand ran an extensive exhibition about Passchendaele 1917. Two important dates are carved into the collective memory of New Zealand - 4 and 12 October 1917.On 4 October the New-Zealanders successfully conquered the plateau of s'Graventafel but they came stuck at the Ravebeek streem before the hill of Bellevue. On 9 October the British attacked head-on and on 12 October the New-Zealanders followed on. 12 October 1917 became the bloodiest day ever for the young New Zealand nation. In just four hours the NZ division counted 2700 victims! In commemoration of the young nations fallen a large monument on the plateau of s'Graventafel was erected by King Albert the First of Belgium in 1924. The exquisite New Zealand exhibition tells the story of 4-12 October and of the men who have fought here in the most terrible circumstances.
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Three more attacks took place in October and on the 6th November the village of Passchendaele was finally taken by British and Canadian infantry. The offensive cost the British Expeditionary Force about 310,000 casualties. Sir Douglas Haig was severely criticised for continuing with the attacks long after the operation had lost any real strategic value.
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Irish singer Chris de Burgh wrote the song "This Song for You", which describes a British soldier in Passchendaele who writes a letter to his 'darling' the night before the attack. It appears on the album "Spanish Train and Other Stories". This was sung by him at the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall in 2006.
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